The Legal Aid Society submitted an amicus brief regarding fraudulent rent overcharges in rent-stabilized apartments. Tenants may bring rent overcharge claims regarding pre-June 2019 overcharges outside of the four-year statute of limitations and rental history “lookback” period if their landlords engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deregulate their apartment. The Appellate Division ruled that a rent-stabilized tenant who alleged that their landlord engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deregulate their apartment needed to demonstrate each element of common law fraud, which is a far more stringent standard than previously applied, which drastically narrowed tenants’ ability to challenge fraudulent rents. In our brief, we argued that the fraud exception established by prior Court of Appeals decisions applies where there are substantial indicia that the landlord has engaged in conduct intended to evade rent stabilization’s protections. We further explained that the fraud exception is essential to the integrity of the rent stabilization system.

In March 2025, the Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division’s decision and reaffirmed its prior holdings that a tenant need allege “sufficient indicia of fraud,” and not a showing of common law fraud, in order to sufficiently allege a fraudulent scheme to deregulate. In December 2025, the Appellate Division then ruled that registration of fictional rents could constitute fraud, and remanded the case for trial.